Twenty-five-year-old Ibby VK is a Syrian-Armenian artist who is very active on social media platforms.

Sohaila Ahmed, Staff Reporter

An astonishing singing performance was given at the 38th Sharjah International Book Fair by young aspiring singers who spread joy among audience and visitors at the Expo Centre Sharjah. Ibby VK and Taha Tito are freelance artists taking part in the SIBF through the events organising company, East Art Group, that arranged singing performances to entertain visitors until the end of exhibition.

The 25 year-old Ibby VK is a Syrian-Armenian artist who is very active on social media platforms, and a guitarist who saw a great opportunity in performing for the first time at the SIBF. “It is great to see the crowd engaging to my performance and enjoying their time. I’m glad that we managed to pack out most of the garden area with people of all age groups,” he said.

Ibby started his singing career three years ago, and gave around 250 performances during the first year only. He uses a looper pedal to help create his music and give the performance of a full band using only his guitar. Moreover, the young singer has already performed in front of prominent figures and celebrities around the UAE, and had recently performed with Miss Universe, Catriona Grey.

“It’s an honour to be a part of such amusing community events that contribute in the entertainment of all age groups guests. However, I started as a song writer then developed interest in singing and playing the guitar, which eventually helped me release my highest streaming track on Spotify ‘Where We Belong’. An upcoming five-song mini album will be released on 11 November, including one of my personal favourite songs ‘How To Mend the Broken Heart’,” Ibby stated.

On the other hand, the 38 year-old Moroccan artist, Taha Tito, worked as a professional musician for 15 years, and started his music career in the UAE three years ago. He performed on many occasions and in various music festivals, and was the first Arab guitarist to perform at the Dubai Latin Fest 2016. “I have performed in France, Morocco, and Tunisia, but the Dubai Latin Fest has opened many doors in the music industry for me, and helped showcase my talent to the people of the UAE,” he said.

“My long years of experience in the music field have helped me improve my talent and increased my love for Latin music. Choosing to play Latin music to an Arab audience is a unique and challenging choice, but it certainly opened the eyes of the audience to a different type of music and culture,” Tito said.

Moreover, Tito praised the organising of the 38th Sharjah International Book Fair, and expressed his thanks and appreciation to the organisers who hosted such entertainment music shows to amuse visitors of the SIBF.

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A gaggle of excited youngsters became student scientists during the Chemical Physical Masterclass at the Sharjah International Book Fair 2019 taking place at Sharjah Expo Centre. Using a series of experiments the kids learnt that what appears to white light is actually made up of a spectrum of colours, that oxygen is lighter than carbon dioxide, and that balloons make a very loud bang when filled with natural hydrochloride and heated up.

Russian entertainers from 2id events took the children through a series of experiments to help them to see that chemistry and physics is fun. Their first experiment saw them mix together lemon acid and soda powder which was then poured into a bright orange balloon using a funnel. The balloon is placed over the opening of a chemistry jar that contains water. To a chorus of excited gasps and very wide-eyes the children watched the balloons expanded and grew as the mixture gave off expanding gases.

“This makes carbon dioxide”, yells Timur Bagautdinot, lead scientist and entertainer from Russia, “Where else do we get carbon dioxide?” Many of the clever kids knew the answer to this and other chemistry questions which were posed over the course of the session.